Old Town merchants offering free trolley service Saturday

TEMECULA  Old Town merchants have teamed up to pay for a free trolley that will cruise around the historic district on Saturdays in a loop, starting this week.

Craig Puma, an Old Town restaurant owner and president of the Old Town Temecula Association, said Friday that the trolley is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

The loop will take people from the free parking garage at the city's Civic Center, down Old Town Front Street to the farmers market on Sixth Street and back to the parking structure via Mercedes Street.

The trolley is designed to help alleviate the parking crunch around the Sixth Street parking lot where the weekly farmers market is staged and introduce folks to the center's parking structure.

Puma said the trolley, owned by Brewen's Empire Trolley, is being paid for by merchants advertising on the side. The service will be offered for a trial period, he said, and in the future he's hoping the city will be able to step in and help keep it rolling.